Ttjbe-cleaheb



J. H. WHIDDEN.

TUBE CLEANER.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 9. 1914.

Patented Au 22,1918.

J'QHNSON H. VII-IIDDEN, SO

tc rifl dl d fi IVIERVILLE, MASSACHUSETTS.

TUBE-CLEANER.

Application filed Hovember 9, 1914.

' To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHNSON H. NHIB- DEN, of Somerville, in the county of MiddleseX and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Tube-Cleaners, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to cleaning or scraping devices for cleaning the inside of tubes of substantial length and has for its underlying principle the yielding of the scraping agency under pressure, which adapts the device to tubes of different sizes and also provides a means of taking up the wear on the scraping surfaces.

My brush primarily consists of a single pair of oppositely disposed brush segments arranged around a central shaft and held in a certain relation thereto, but I do not limit myself to a single pair as it is obvious that these pairs may be duplicated indefinitely along the shaft, and it is, in fact, this possibility that constitutes one of the main features of my invention.

In the drawings which accompany and form part of this specification and which illustrate an embodiment of my invention which is suitable for cleaning tubes that are used in the treatment of milk, Figure 1 is a longitudinal central section of my preferred form. Fig. 2 is a section on line 2-.2 of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a section on line 33 of Fig. 1. Fig. 1 is a modification, somewhat reduced.

The central shaft 1 is shouldered at 2, 2 to receive the boxes 3, 3 which are held against the shoulders by suitable means, as by nuts 4, 4:. A handle 5 may be attached at one end, of any length, by which the device is manipulated. Between the boxes 3 and surrounding shaft 1, I provide one or more pairs of oppositely disposed brush segments 6, 6, each pair being preferably arranged at right angles to its neighboring pair and held against rotation around shaft 1 and also slidable radially with reference to same by a guide 7 which is preferably fixed on the shaft. A pair of spiral springs 8, 8 is provided to hold segments 6, 6 apart Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 23%, 1.916.

Serial No. 870,955.

and the action of these springs is limited by a ferrule 9 on each of the boxes 3, each se ment having a slightly reduced end portion 10 adapted to snugly fit within ferrule 9.

The above description covers a style of brush which I have found very efficient, both by its compactness and by its adjustability to different sizes of tubes, which may range from one whose internal diameter is slightly less than the tip diameter of the bristles 11 to one whose diameter will so compress the segments 6 that the bristles 11 will barely project beyond the boxes 3.

In Fig. 4, the guide 7 comprises two threaded pins 12 rigidly secured to a ferrule 13 fast on shaft 1, the nuts 1% being slidably socketed in segments 6 with springs 15, 15 surrounding pins 12 and holding their respective segments against the corresponding nut 14-.

I do not limit myself to the precise construction shown.

lVhat I claim is:-

1. A central shaft, two pairs of oppositely disposed, automatically collapsible brush segments arranged about said shaft so that each pair shall be tandem to the other; means for preventing rotation of said segments with respect to said shaft and so positioned that each pair is arranged at right angles to the other; and means for preventing longitudinal movement of said segments with respect to said shaft.

2. A central shaft, two pairs of oppositely disposed, automatically collapsible brush segments arranged tandem about said shaft, each of said segments occupying more than one quarter of the circumference; means for preventing rotation of said segments with respect to said shaft and each other, said means being adapted to prevent longitudinal movement of said segments with respect to said shaft.

In testimony whereof I have afiirzed my signature, in the presence of two witnesses.

JOHNSON I-I. WHIDDEN. Nitnesses:

P. E. BLAZO, A. T. PALMER.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, I). C. 

